This invention relates to fasteners for fastening a plurality of elongated members together at a point and, more particularly, to a clamp for clamping a plurality of strips of compressible material together comprising, a plate member; a pair of vertical bar members carried by the plate member perpendicular thereto and disposed parallel to one another at a distance generally equal to the width of the strips to be clamped together; a horizontal bar member shorter in length than the above-described distance and disposed in parallel, spaced relationship to the plate member; and, a pair of joining bar members connected between respective ones of the ends of the vertical bar members and the horizontal bar member, the joining bar members forming an angle of between 120.degree. and 150.degree. with the horizontal bar member; and wherein, the plate member, the vertical bar members, the horizontal bar member, and the joining bar members are all of a resiliently rigid and deformable material.
The fastening of two or more elongated members together at a point is a very old problem. One of the oldest and well known examples is the forming of an eye in the end of a piece of rope or line. The strand is folded back upon itself to form a loop and then the two adjacent strands are fastened together in a parallel relationship to permanently form the eye. The procedure is substantially the same for small lines up to the large hawsers used to tow large ocean-going ships.
Early braided ropes where braided together at the point of fastening. The process was generally time consuming, but in the early days of sailing ships it was a means of occupying time on long voyages. With the advent of large steel cables, and the like, and the need for more rapid means of accomplishing the same fastening function, clamping type fasteners were developed. One popular type of fastener for clamping two lines together is typified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,059,866 (Ellis) and 4,052,376 (Rohland). In such fasteners as used with strands or lines, a cylindrical or oval sleeve is slipped over the two strands at the point of juncture and then the sleeve is swaged or crimped to clamp the two strands together. A plurality of strands can also be fastened together in that manner as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,034,195 (Leclabart). Such a swaged sleeve imparts a generally uniform inward crushing force on the strands. With large ropes, lines, and the like, however, the clamping force is generally not a problem. Clamps of related structure as employed in similar applications are also shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,078,532 (Bywater) and 3,082,794 (Wahl).
Eyeglass retainers are a relatively recent inventive concept. They generally fall into one of two categories--convenience and sport. Both types attach to the temple pieces of the eyeglasses and comprise a loop which passes around the neck or head of the wearer. The convenience retainers are generally of a non-stretchable cording and are longer. They merely hang in loops down from the temple pieces and provide a means of suspending the glasses from the neck of the wearer when not positioned on the nose. In this regard, they are a form of lanyard and any required loops can be formed and fastened using methods and apparatus known in the lanyard art. This includes miniature versions of the swaged sleeve described above. Usually, a small loop of elastomeric material, such as neoprene, is attached to a loop or eye formed in each end of the cording material used for the retainer. The neoprene loops are stretched and slid onto the temple pieces of the glasses to hold the retainer on the glasses. Various fasteners as employed in the construction of lanyards, lanyard type eyeglass retainers, and the like, are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,159,792 (Siegal), 3,861,813 (Seron), 754,358 (Spohn), 3,879,804 (Lawrence), 2,481,946 (Pendleton), 2,648,255 (Pendleton), 2,649,020 (Wheeler), and 3,827,790 (Wenzel).
Sport retainers are a more recent addition which followed close on the heels of the development of rugged eyeglasses with plastic lenses and frames of Nylon or high impact plastic which could be conveniently and safely worn even during sports such as skiing, basketball and football. Such retainers generally comprise an elastomeric, fabric covered stretch band adapted to stretch around the back of the wearers head and hold the glasses firmly in position on the nose even in the presence of shocks and blows to the head. A typical example is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,133,604 (Fuller).
The wider, band-type sport retainers create a problem not present in the convenience retainers, which are made of cording material--the manner of fastening the wide elastic band to the temples of the glasses. As can be seen in the Fuller patent, the invention therein is the longitudinal folding of the band adjacent the ends to form integral longitudinal elastic tubes which are then slipped onto the temple pieces of the glasses.
If one desires to employ the neoprene loop method of attachment to the glasses described above with a sport retainer, there is no clamping arrangement presently available which will do the job. As shown in FIG. 1, a fold-over type crimping clamp like that employed in Siegal or Leclabart can be employed with elastomeric cording such as that generally indicated as 10 in FIG. 1. As the ends 12 of the clamp 14 are rolled and compressed in the direction of arrows 16 from their original position (shown ghosted) to the final position of FIG. 1, a uniform inward crimping or clamping action is created as described above. Since the cording is cylindrical, the uniform crushing is generally esthetically acceptable and the holding power is sufficient to keep the two pieces of cording 10 from pulling through the clamp 14 in normal use. As will be readily recognized, however, if the clamp 14 of FIG. 1 were used with a wide band such as that of Fuller to create an eye at each end thereof, the esthetic results would be completely unacceptable from a commercial sales point of view as the band would be crushed and deformed at the point of crimping.
The use of a staple type configuration as shown in FIGS. 2-5 was also investigated by the applicant herein and found to be unacceptable. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a staple fastener 18 was formed as a plate 20 having a pair of parallel, spaced ears 22 extending perpendicular therefrom. FIGS. 4 and 5 depict the various possibilities for fastening a pair of elastomeric straps 24 together with the fastener 18. The ears 22 can be folded as shown in FIG. 4 or rolled (in typical staple fashion) as shown in FIG. 5. The ears 22 can be disposed around the outsides of the straps 24 as shown in FIG. 4 or punched through the straps 24 as shown in FIG. 5. While around and folded and punched through and rolled are the forms depicted in the figures, those skilled in the art will also recognize that the configurations of around and rolled and punched through and folded could also be accomplished. All four methods of use were tried with unacceptable results. When the ears 22 are disposed around the straps and either folded or rolled, there is insufficient holding power to prevent pull-through if the plate is not crushed and deformed. The back side is generally unpleasing esthetically as well. Punching the ears 22 through the strap 24 created a multitude of problems both structurally and esthetically. The fabric covering 26 tended to be cut and frayed while the neoprene inner material 28 also tended to cut and pull through. In general, the folded configuration of FIG. 4 tended to be smoother and more esthetically pleasing while the rolled configuration of FIG. 5 was stronger but looked poor and had inwardly extending loops 30 which could catch and pull the wearer's hair.
All in all, the results of attempting to use any of the prior art fastening methods with elastomeric strap material produced completely unacceptable results.
Wherefore, it is the object of the present invention to provide a fastener for use with elastomeric strap material which will provide a point of fastening which is esthetically pleasing in appearance while providing ease of use and a strong, pull-through resistant joint.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a fastener for use with elastomeric strap material which incorporates a logo plate as part thereof whereby a decorative logo can be provided easily on the outside, viewable surface at the point of joining the strap material.